SALAMANDER SCRAMBLE PROFILE: Drs. Greg and Diana Lyon-Loftus

Saturday

Apr 20, 2013 at 8:00 AM

This is the second in a series of spotlights on participants in Renfrew Institute’s (RI) annual Salamander Scramble 5K. The race is an important fundraiser for the Institute, and is held on July 4 in conjunction with the Firecracker 5K.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series of spotlights on participants in Renfrew Institute’s (RI) annual Salamander Scramble 5K. The race is an important fundraiser for the Institute, and is held on July 4 in conjunction with the Firecracker 5K.

Registration is open now to join “Team Salamander”—team members run, walk, or “scramble” over the 5K course to raise funds for Renfrew Institute. All ages and fitness levels are welcome.For more information or to sign up for Team Salamander, call the Institute at 717-762-0373 or email to: info@renfrewinstitute.org. Information and registration forms are also available online at www.renfrewinstitute.org.

Q&A with Drs. Greg & Diana Lyon-Loftus

1. How long have you been runners/fitness walkers?As long-time students, our exercise was sporadic. Then, while living on the Hopi Indian reservation during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, we learned run/walking was a way of developing and expressing a special relationship with Mother Earth. Hopi believe rising with the sun reduces the sun’s burden in bringing light to the sky. Their transportation has traditionally been only their feet. Greg began running with them and some of the other doctors on the reservation. When we came to Waynesboro in 1984 we were way too busy to be regular exercisers, but raising two athletic sons did keep us moving. Then Dr. Stephen Bui invited this old man to join him in running and supporting the American Odyssey Relay. Greg was thrilled to be in his company! We later got in touch with other runners—and the rest is history. We joined CFAR (Waynesboro’s running club) and made such good friends. Each year brought another invitation and challenge....5K, Odyssey, then 10K, then a Marathon, then another.Meanwhile, back in Waynesboro, Dr. Joe Stewart was developing the Summer Jubilee to provide a community activity for families to share celebrating our hometown. A 5K run was included [the Firecracker 5K] and we felt a strong need to support the event and the opportunity for shared physical activity. Mont Alto Family Practice enrolled en mass—30 staff and family members entered one year.

2. Are other family members involved, too?One year, Diana’s mom and dad joined us in her mom’s electric cart, and both of our sons have run with us. We have continued to be involved any way we can, and when the Renfrew Institute Scramblers got started, of course we joined them, enthusiastic to support our neighbor and the values Renfrew demonstrates and teaches so well.

3. What is your relationship with Renfrew Institute? In addition to being our neighbor, Renfrew Institute has been a site for our children’s environmental studies, and they each completed their Eagle Scout project there. Our son, Mike led a team to revise the grounds of the German Four Square garden (since moved and revised again). Son Tony headed a crew that constructed the container locker near the parking lot to hold student lunches. We have attended and participated in innumerable Renfrew events from Shakespeare on Wheels to yard sales, from Earth Day celebrations and pumpkin fests to jazz concerts. The environmental education offered by Renfrew Institute has nourished our family’s commitment to a loving relationship with the land we live on, and the waters that refresh and bathe us.

4. What motivated you to join the Salamander Scramble team?Joining the Scramblers to walk/run with hundreds of our friends and neighbors was an easy, simple way to put our feet into witnessing our belief that community comes from doing things together, and that to be healthy, everyone needs to be physically active within their limits.

5. Do you have a personal goal in completing the 5K?Goals? Training for a run, Greg pushed in August 2013 and discovered a knee problem which has prevented his running since then...he is trying weights and biking and swimming and has hopes of a run/walk with the Salamander Scramblers in July 2013. Diana anticipates her traditional walk around the course in her ongoing commitment to modeling good behavior for all...so our goal for 2013, as always, is to participate and MAKE THE MOST! — “A loser is not the one who crosses the finish line last, but one who never tries.”

6. What do you like best about Team Salamander membership?The BEST thing about Team Salamander membership is being part of a commitment to honoring ourselves and the earth we walk on, and all those who connect and contribute to its survival in the face of change…nice folks!!!

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